Manufacture of spun textile fibers



Patented Mar. 20, 1945 UNITED A STATES v PATENT OFFICE muracronagjrzrnxmmnas head, England, a British company a No Drawing. ApplicationAugust 1, 1941, Serial no. name. In Great Britain June 12, 1940 r cums.(6148-94) This invention comprises improvements in the manufacture 'ofsplm fibers.

It is known that may be made from alginic acid by extruding a solutionof sodium alginate from a spinneret into an acid coagulatlng bath. Thespinneret may have any desired number of holes, and the group offilaments is collected as a continuous thread by means of a revolvingbobbin or the Topham spinning box. After being washed, the cake ofyarnis subjected to hardening agents such as a solution of alum.Alternatively, the coagulating and harden 'ing processes may be combinedby extruding a solution of sodium alginate into an acid solution ofcalcium chloride, for example, when filaments of calcium alglnate areobtained.

- practice, considerable diificulty has been encountered in separatingthe individual filaments within the thread, o i to the fact that theyare gelatinous when first spun, and adhere to one another duringspinning and subsequent treatments. The yarn so obtained is straw-likein handling properties andtotally unsuitable for textile purposes.

The above difllculty could be overcome if means composition: m2sulphuric acid, 2.5% olive on,

, and 0.25% of an acid-stable emulsifying agent.

In this way the filaments of alglnic acid are coated with a thin film ofolive oil, which keeps the filaments apart during and subsequentprocesses, and the handling properties of the resulting yam are verygreatly improved. If the emulsifying agent employed is cationic incharacter, e. g. Fixano (cetyl pyridinium chloride) "Lissolamine (atertiary alkyl ammonium chloride) or Sapamine, a further improvement inhandling properties is obtained owing to the retention of theemulsifying agent by the filaments.

All the three. compounds mentioned are auxiliary products in which thefatty agent carries a-positive charge in aqueous solution and theretention of the emulsifying agent is due to combination of the acidside chains of alginic acid with the fatty,

were discovered for keeping the individual filaments separate in theyarn during the spinning and subsequent processes.

The present invention comprises in the spinning of alginate yarns, theimprovement in the coagulating operation which consists in coating thefilaments with oil during or immediately after coagulation and beforethey have had opportunity to adhere together. It has been found that ifthe filaments are coated with oil in this way they do not stlcktogetherduring coagulation and they remain separate permanently so that thehaudling properties are not interfered with.

The most convenient method of applying the oil is by dispersing it in anemulsified form in the.

coagulating bath. A second method, which may be used in conjunction withthe flrst,is to pass the filaments through an oil emulsion after leavingthe coagulating bath on their way to the winding mechanism.

The invention includes. a coagulating bath for ,alginate yarnsconsisting of a coagulating liquid,

an emulsifying agent and an oil emulsified in the coagulating liquid.

The following are examples of suitable procedures:

Example I V.

A 5.5% solution of sodium alginate is extruded into a coagulating bath,having the following positively charged ion of the emulsifying agent.

The yarn prepared in the above manner can then be made into hanks, andafter-treated with are coated with a thin film of olive oil which keepsthe filaments apart during spinning and subsequent processes, e. g.drying. As in the case of the first example, the emulsifying agent maybe cationic in character.

. I claim:

1 A process of manufacture of alginate yarn I consisting in spinning oualginic solution into an acid coagulating bath wherein is dispersed avegetable'oil in emulsified form and thereafter collecting and dryingthe yarn.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vegetable oil isemulsified with the aid of an emulsifying agent which carries a positivecharge in aqueous solution.

3. A process of spinning alglnic yarns consistms in spinning an aqueoussolution of an alginate into a solution of a coagulating agent so as tocoagulate spun material and preventing adherence between thecoagulatedthreads by bringing them, while stillwet by coagulating solution, intocontact'with oil held in emulsified form by an emulsifying agent.

4. Alimessasaumedmcmmsmnmm'me -cmmeamc;aims,wnmmouuaveg m" oil isin'emulsifled form in the coagulfitinz soluoil.

tionltselt. LA 7 of alzlnlc yarns as 5.A process of spanning alginleya'rns as clalmedinclaimawheninthcemumtymgj'clalmedmclmm3.thecoagulafln3soiscatlon-activeinchamcter.luflonisacidic. q 4

8. A m of JOHN

